PDF Document - Swatch Group

More documents

Recommendations

Info

SHIGERU BAN, biographical milestones 1957 Born in Tokyo 1977-1980 Studied architecture at the Southern California Institute of Architecture, Los Angeles 1980-1982 Studied architecture at the Cooper Union School of Architecture, New York 1984 Bachelor of Architecture, Cooper Union 1985 Established his own agency in Tokyo 1995 Consultant to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees SHIGERU BAN,key projects, achievements and prizes 1989 Paper Arbor at the World Design Expo, Nagoya 1994 Miyake Design Studio Gallery in Tokyo for the designer Issey Miyake 1995 House and church made from cardboard tubes for refugees in Kobe 1997 Tazawako Station in Akita (Japan) 1998 Paper Dome, Gifu 1998 Issey Miyake Collection Stage Set Design, Paris 1998 Awarded the JIA prize for the best young architect of the year 2000 Japan Pavilion at the Hanover International Exhibition (Germany) 2000 Berlin Art Award, Akademie der Kunste, Germany, Japan Pavilion, Hanover Expo 2000 2000 Boat shelter on the Burgundy Canal at Pouilly en Auxois in the French department of Yonne, with Jean de Gastines 2001 Winner of the competition for the Centre Pompidou in Metz 2002 Best House in the World, World Architecture Awards 2002, Naked House 2003 Finalist in the competition to rebuild Ground Zero in New York 2004 Winner of the competition for the Nicolas G. Hayek Center in Tokyo 2004 Grande Medaille d'Or, Academie d' Architecture SHIGERU BAN, bibliography 1997 Shigeru Ban, GG Portfolio, Editorial Gustavo Gili, S.A., Spain 1998 Shigeru Ban, 17 realisations/works, Institut Francais d'Architecture, France Paper Tube Architecture from Rwanda to Kobe, Chikuma Shobo Publishing Co., Ltd., Japan Shigeru Ban, JA30, The Japan Architect Co. Ltd., Japan 1999 Shigeru Ban, Projects in Process to Japanese Pavilion, Expo 2000 Hanover, TOTO Shuppan, Japan 2000 Shigeru Ban, Galerie Renate Kammer, Junius Velag GmbH, Germany 2001 Shigeru Ban, Princeton Architectural Press, New York 2003 Shigeru Ban, Phaidon Press, London
SHIGERU BAN, the interview by Rahel Marti, Hochparterre The Swatch Group has paid 150 Million Swiss Francs for 475 square metres. You are therefore building on one of the most expensive sites in the world. That must be really impressive for an architect. Shigeru Ban: Actually I wasn't aware of these figures. I am not one of those architects, who dream about building something in Ginza. But it's obviously a fantastic opportunity as it's Japan's most popular shopping area. It's the first time that I've built anything that has been the subject of so much publicity in Japan – most of my buildings have been in locations where there are not that many people passing by. Actually, it's working with Swatch that I find more interesting than the site itself. What is it that appeals to you about working with them? SB: Well, everyone knows that Swatch is innovative and inventive. They have reinvented the watch and revolutionised the watch industry. I am trying to do the same thing in architecture – to be inventive. So we go well together! What have you proposed for the Nicolas G. Hayek Centre? SB: As a first step, I have altered the way the range of competing products is presented. That was a risky thing to do, but fortunately the plan worked out alright. The Swatch Group wanted to locate seven shops in the building with one for each brand of watch. If I had arranged the shops on different floors, then we would have been giving preferential treatment to the brands on the ground floor. However, I explicitly wanted to present all the brands in the same way; but that would have made things a bit cramped on the ground floor. What does your solution look like? SB: I've turned the ground floor into a street or a public thoroughfare, which connects the streets at the front and the back of the building. We have located one booth for each brand in this street rather like market stalls. The people stroll along this street past the booths. The booths are glazed and one can go in and looks at the displays. The trick here is that in the booths there are hydraulic lifts. If someone is interested in seeing more watch, then they simply press the button and the lift takes them to the showroom of the brand. These showrooms – the actual shops – are located on the first three floors and the basement. Once there you can walk around the shops and go up or down via the central lift. How do you ensure people enter the building and use the thoroughfare? SB: The shop fronts are enclosed with glass shutters, which are, incidentally, another of our inventions. When the shops are open, the shutters are stacked up. Then there's no longer any shopfront to separate the inside from the outside. I think this will entice people to come in. One can roll the blinds right up below the roof and open up the whole building. An open commercial building without a facade is something that doesn't exist anywhere else. What happens then on the floors further up? The customer service areas are located above the floors where the shops are and above these are the Swatch Group offices and in the roof there is a reception area that can be used for a wide range of different events. When the glass shutters are open, the atrium of the customer services also becomes a semi-open area that is three storeys high. There it will feel as if you are up on a terrace high above the street. I want to ensure that the employees don't just have to sit in air-conditioned rooms, but can also go out into the fresh air, the light and the sunshine.
Page 1 and 2: NICOLAS G. HAYEK CENTER TOKYO
Page 3 and 4: GINZA 7-9-18, TOKYO Tokyo is an adv
Page 5 and 6: NICOLAS G. HAYEK, Chairman of the B
Page 7 and 8: 1996 Appointed by the French Govern
Page 9 and 10: NICOLAS G. HAYEK, the interview By
Page 11 and 12: NICK HAYEK Jr., President & CEO of
Page 13 and 14: That is to say? GNH: As I’ve alre
Page 15 and 16: ARLETTE-ELSA EMCH, the interview By
Page 17: SHIGERU BAN, the architect A brilli

PDF Document - Swatch Group

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?